Major League Baseball is proposing significant changes to the structure of its regular season and playoffs, as part of the league’s salary cap and floor system, including allowing the highest-ranked wild-card and Division Series teams to select their opponents.
MLB suggested that starting in 2029, the league would return to a 154-game regular season for the first time since the 1960s. In 1961, the American League expanded from 154 games to 162. The following year, the National League followed suit.
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Also in 2029, MLB could begin holding best-of-seven divisional series, the league explained online following a negotiating session with the MLB Players’ Association on Thursday.
Currently, the Division Series adopts a best-of-five format, while the American League and National League Championship Series are best-of-seven, like the World Series. Expanding the ALDS and NLDS in this manner would allow up to eight additional playoff games.
Additionally, according to MLB, more prime-time games would be possible in this scenario, given that there would be an increase in postseason rest days, which would simultaneously provide pitchers with additional rest.
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As for opponent selection, MLB recommends moving to 2027. At the end of the regular season, the No. 3 seed, or third-best division winner in the AL and NL, would choose to play the No. 5 seed or No. 6 seed in their wild-card series.
Then, once the wild-card series is complete, the #1 seed in the AL and NL would select the wild-card winner to face.
MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin explained the reasoning behind the proposed changes in a statement Thursday, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
“Returning to a 154-game schedule would allow us to introduce a weekly day off, which is good for player health, while creating a new national broadcast window to showcase our most exciting teams and players.
“A shorter regular season makes October even better for our fans – with fewer weekday afternoon games, a longer Division Series and more opportunities to see the game’s best pitchers on the biggest stage.
“And allowing top seeds to select their opponents in the first two rounds would create compelling storylines, intensify existing rivalries and create new ones.”
The MLBPA also released a statement Thursday:
“The league made several scheduling proposals today. We are reviewing these documents, including proposed changes to the playoff format. Players will provide feedback on these proposals and we will respond at the bargaining table.
“Unfortunately, the league has once again made it clear that all of its proposals are contingent on players agreeing to a salary cap, a system that destroys player rights and compensation, along with its other anti-player proposals.”
Right now, MLB is in the middle of its exciting postseason. But a potential, and seemingly inevitable, lockout looms on the horizon, with the existing collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA set to expire on December 1.
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Realizing that a work stoppage could be imminent, MLB sent a 34-page memo to owners and management on Oct. 1, outlining how they should operate during the lockout, as detailed in a report published Wednesday by Evan Drellich of The Athletic.
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